Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music

Title: Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music
Author: Ben Ratliff
ISBN: 9780805081466
Publisher: Times Books
Published: 2008
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: First Edition
Number of Pages: 256
Condition Note: Excellent, unmarked copy with little wear and tight binding. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description:

An intimate exploration into the musical genius of fifteen living jazz legends, from the longtime "New York Times "jazz critic

Jazz is conducted almost wordlessly: John Coltrane rarely told his quartet what to do, and Miles Davis famously gave his group only the barest instructions before recording his masterpiece "Kind of Blue." Musicians are often loath to discuss their craft for fear of destroying its improvisational essence, rendering jazz among the most ephemeral and least transparent of the performing arts.

In "The Jazz Ear," the acclaimed music critic Ben Ratliff sits down with jazz greats to discuss recordings by the musicians who most influenced them. In the process, he skillfully coaxes out a profound understanding of the men and women themselves, the context of their work, and how jazz--from horn blare to drum riff--is created conceptually. Expanding on his popular interviews for "The New York Times," Ratliff speaks with Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, and others about the subtle variations in generation, training, and attitude that define their music.

Playful and keenly insightful, "The Jazz Ear "is a revelatory exploration of a unique way of making and hearing music.